Ingredients of Successful Partnering in Afghanistan: Laying the Foundations for Success in Scaling-up Improved Teaching and Learning

• In Event: Ingredients of Successful Partnering in Afghanistan: Laying the Foundations for Success in Scaling-up Improved Teaching and Learning

Proposal

Reading is fundamental to development. It is impossible to succeed in school if you do not know how to read. In the United States, students who do not read by grade three are four times more likely to drop out of school than their reading peers. In Guatemala, the World Bank reports that early grade reading competency is critical for continued retention and success in future grades. Failing to learn to read lowers attendance, increases drop¬out rates, and results in unsuccessful or school careers or early dropout. UNESCO currently estimates that the opportunity cost of 250 million boys and girls failing to learn basic reading skills is equivalent to an annual loss of USD $129 billion, or 10 percent of global spending on primary education (UNESCO, 2014). The world cannot afford this loss.
In Afghanistan, the barriers to teaching every child to read are perhaps more daunting than anywhere else in the world. This presentation explores how, in the early design phases of the program, the science of early grade reading and the contextual factors unique to Afghanistan were analyzed by USAID and the ministry to provide the parameters according to which an evidence-based early grade reading program could be launched in the country. Key considerations, such as ministry imperatives expressed in the national development plans, questions about languages of instruction specifically for the teaching of reading, geographic focus, and instructional delivery modalities are addressed. The particular tools used to analyze the early grade reading institutional and instructional landscape in 2014 are discussed, and the key decisions made based on those data are discussed. Overall, this presentation sets the stage for the other presentations on the panel by providing insight into the status of early grade reading in the country at that time that the Afghan Children Read project was conceived.

Authors

• Rebecca Rhodes, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Leon Gaskin, UNESCO

• Alim Ghafary, US Agency for International Development (USAID)